Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
For example, an image forming apparatus, such as a laser printer and a multi-functional peripheral, includes a cleaning apparatus that removes remaining toner from an outer peripheral surface of a photoreceptor drum.
There is a cleaning apparatus that includes a blade, a screw, and a casing. The blade is slidably in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the photoreceptor drum in contact with the brush and separates the remaining toner from the outer peripheral surface of the photoreceptor drum. The screw conveys the toner separated from the photoreceptor drum. The casing houses the screw.
Usually, the blade and the screw are arranged separated from one another. Therefore, the toner separated from the photoreceptor drum is likely to accumulate between the blade and the screw. If the accumulated toner hardens, a flow of the toner heading from the blade to the screw is inhibited.
Therefore, the above-described cleaning apparatus includes a toner crushing member that crushes the toner accumulated between the blade and the screw. The toner crushing member is constituted of an elastic sheet material keeping in contact with the rotating screw. A base end side of the toner crushing member is secured to the casing while a distal end side of the toner crushing member is arranged between the blade and the screw.
Thus, the rotation of the screw swings the distal end portion of the toner crushing member. Accordingly, the toner accumulated between the blade and the screw is crushed with the distal end portion of the toner crushing member.
Here, in the cleaning apparatus, a rotation direction of the photoreceptor drum is the same as the rotation direction of the screw. Accordingly, the screw is in contact with the toner crushing member from the base end side to the distal end side, thus ensuring stable swing of the sheet-shaped toner crushing member.